tration returns on the Ganges at Sáhibganj, that on an average of the three years ending 1874, nearly 150,000 maunds or 5491 tons of all sorts of goods are annually consigned to Jiaganj from Upper India. To this total there ought to be added the goods which are at the order of Jiaganj merchants, but not directly consigned to that place.

AZIMGANJ, situated in 24° 14' 20" north latitude, and 88° 18' 1" east longitude, on the right bank of the Bhagirathí facing Jiaganj, which was once regarded as a suburb of Murshidábád city, is now chiefly known as the terminus of the Nalhátí State railway. It is a great centre of passenger traffic, being the spot where all railway travellers take boat in order to reach the populous towns which line the river in this neighbourhood. It is itself rather the home of merchants than a seat of actual commerce. Jiáganj or Jangipur on the Bhagirathí, and Bhagwángolá or Dhulián on the Ganges, are the depôts to which goods are consigned, while the traders themselves reside at Azimganj. The town has long been famous for its thriving colony of Oswál and Márwárí or up-country traders, who uniformly profess the Jain religion, and whose handsome temples are conspicuous from the river. The Jain temples on the sacred mount of Párasnáth, which are fully described in the Statistical Account of the District of Hazáribágh, are largely maintained out of the contributions of the Azimganj merchants.

There is also a second place named Azimganj in the District, a village of very minor importance, situated in tháná Jalangí, in 24° 7′ 20′′ north latitude, and 88° 35′ 46′′ east longitude.

BHAGWANGOLA, as has been already mentioned in treating of the river traffic of the District, may be divided into two towns, five miles distant from each other, called New and Old Bhagwángolá. The latter was the port of Murshidábád during the Muhammadan rule, and is still much resorted to when the Ganges is in flood. It is now a police station, and is situated in 24° 20' o" north latitude, and 88° 20′ 38′′ east longitude. At all other seasons of the year, boats can only reach New Bhagwángolá; for the main stream of the Ganges has lately shifted about five miles to the westward, and the course of trade has been compelled to follow. The new town is sometimes called Alátalí, and is a great depôt for up-country commodities, especially indigo-seed. The scene was thus described by Bishop Heber :-'The small but neat mat-houses are scattered over a large green common, fenced off from the river by a high grassy

mound, which forms an excellent dry walk, bordered with mangotrees, bamboos, and the date palm, as well as some fine banians. The common was covered with children and cattle; a considerable number of boats were on the beach; different musical instruments were strumming, thumping, squealing, and rattling from some of the open sheds; and the whole place exhibited a cheerfulness and an activity and bustle which were extremely interesting and pleasing.' Speaking of Old Bhagwángolá, the Rev. J. Long observes that 'the neighbourhood must once have been exceedingly populous, as there are evident remains of a very extensive town or series of large villages, now overgrown with jungle, and dotted with numerous tanks and other signs of population.'

DHULIAN, also on the Ganges, is the site of an annual fair, and one of the most important river marts in the District. It is not, however, marked in the ordinary maps. The Sahibganj register of the Ganges-borne traffic, which will be given in detail on a subsequent page in connection with the Trade and Commerce of the District shows that Dhulián heads all the Murshidábád marts both in its exports and imports.

MURARAI, a railway station in the west of the District, in Palsá tháná, not far from the boundary of the Santál Parganás, was but an insignificant hamlet until the opening of the East Indian Railway. It is now, perhaps, the principal centre of the rice trade in Murshidábád; and from it is despatched to Calcutta the greater part of the áman crop, which is almost exclusively produced in the Rárh or western half of the District.

Among other places which carry on a brisk trade may be mentioned Khágrá, the port of Barhampur; Chhápghátí, noted for its timber yards; Raghunathganj, the southern suburb of Jangipur and a police station, situated in 24° 27′ 48′′ north latitude, and 88° 6′ 36′′ east longitude, where there is an annual fair; Báluchar; Pátiboná; Sálkap.

LARGE VILLAGES.-The following villages, in which police stations have been placed, are also of some importance. Sujáganj, 24° 6' 2" north latitude, and 88° 17′ 53′′ east longitude, and Gorá-bázár, 24° 5′ 20′′ north latitude, and 88° 17′ 11′′ east longitude, are both suburbs of Barhampur. Barwá, 23° 56' 20" north latitude, and 88° 16′ 55′′ east longitude, lies in the south of the District, not far from the large village of Beldángá. Nawádá, 23° 54′ 5′′ north latitude, and 88° 30′ 20′′ east longitude, and Jalangi, 24° 8' 10" north latitude, and

88° 44′ 35′′ east longitude, are both situated on the Jalangí river, in the extreme south-east of the District. Hariharpárá or Harípárá, 24° 2′ 35′′ north latitude, and 88° 27′ 58′′ east longitude, and Gowás, 24° 10' 4" north latitude, and 88° 32' 10" east longitude, are both situated to the east of the civil station of Barhampur. Díwánsarái, 24° 23′ 8′′ north latitude, and 88° 16′ 25′′ east longitude, is situated towards the north-east of the District, midway between the Ganges and the Bhagirathi. Kaliánganj, 24° 9′ 20′′ north latitude, and 88° 7′ 53′′ east longitude, is situated in the centre of the District, due west of the town of Murshidábád. Asánpur, 24° 14′ 50′′ north latitude, and 88° 17′ 10′′ east longitude, and Mánullábázár, 24° 14′ 0′′ north latitude, and 88° 18′ 33′′ east longitude, are situated in the centre of the District on opposite sides of the Bhagirathí; the one being a suburb of Azimganj, and the other of Jiáganj. Sháhnagar, 24° 10′ 20′′ north latitude, and 88° 19′ 1′′ east longitude, is the southern suburb of Murshidábád, and gives its name to the tháná which includes the greater part of the city. Rámpur-Hát, 24° 8′ 50′′ north latitude, and 87° 49′ 36′′ east longitude, now the seat of a Subdivisional station, is situated in the extreme west of the District, and has a station on the East Indian Railway. Gokaran, 24° 2′ 35′′ north latitude, and 88° 9' 30" east longitude; Khárgáon, 24° 1′ 53′′ north latitude, and 88° 2' 3" east longitude, in the neighbourhood of which are several extensive swamps; and Bharatpur, 23° 53′ 15′′ north latitude, and 88° 7′ 31′′ east longitude, on the banks of the Kuiyá river, all three lie in the old Subdivision of Kándí to the south-west of the District. Mirzápur, 24° 24′ 20′′ north latitude, and 88° 6′ 51′′ east longitude, situated in the north centre of the District, a little to the west of the Bhagirathi, was formerly a populous village, with a flourishing colony of weavers; but now, owing to the decay of that industry, and still more to a virulent outbreak of malarious fever, the place is much decayed. Palsá, 24° 28′ 50′′ north latitude, and 87° 54′ 21′′ east longitude, is situated in the north-west of the District, close to the important railway station of Murárai. Sútí, 24° 35′ 20′′ north latitude, and 88° 6′ 8′′ east longitude, is situated in the north-east of the District, on the Ganges, at the point where it is usually recognised that the Bhagirathí branches off. This spot has always been the scene of great fluvial changes, and the present village of Sútí is only in name identical with that which has attained celebrity in history. The Revenue Surveyor relates, that in the great flood of 1856 a large portion of the village was washed away.

Shamsherganj lies in the extreme north of the District, on the banks of the Ganges.

BELIA NARAYANPUR, a large village on the right bank of the Páglá nadi, lying on the extreme west of the District, in the tract of country which has lately been transferred from Bírbhúm, was thus described by the Revenue Surveyor in 1857:- Beliá Nárayanpur is a market for iron ore brought from Bírbhúm District. Sixty-two furnaces are worked here, smelting and reducing the ore. The beds from which the furnaces are supplied, though extending for thirty miles north and south, have been (upon examination by the Government Geological Surveyor) pronounced unfit for extensive use. His words are:-"The absence of economical fuel, combined with the scanty supply of ore, at once determines the inapplicability of any extensive lines of operations for smelting and manufacturing iron in the District of Birbhum." A further description of this iron-bearing tract, together with copious extracts from the report of the Geological Surveyor, will be found in the Statistical Account of the District of Birbhum, vol. v. pp. 318-322. It is there stated that Beliá Nárayanpur is the largest and most important of the villages which have ironworks, and that in 1852 the number of the furnaces it contained was about thirty.

PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST.-KASIMBAZAR, situated in 24° 7′ 40′′ north latitude, and 88° 19' o" east longitude, the site of which is now a swamp marked by a few ruins, may lay claim to an historical interest even superior to that of the city of Murshidábád. Long before the days of Murshid Kulí Khán, the trade of Bengal was centred at Kásimbázár. Here the European nations had their factories from the earliest times. The common name for the Bhagirathí in English history down to the present century was the Kásimbázár river; and the triangular tract of country enclosed by the Bhagirathi, the Ganges, and the Jalangi, was always known in early days as the island of Kásimbázár. But about the year 1813, the river, which had brought wealth and fame to the town, suddenly deserted its old bed, and instead of following its former bend to the east, took a sweep to the west. The channel in front of the warehouses of Kásimbázár was at once turned into a stagnant pool, which has now become a pestiferous bil, while the Bhagirathí at present flows three miles away.

Kásimbázár is said to be so called from a legendary founder, Kásim Khán. Its history cannot be traced back beyond the seven

teenth century, but even when first mentioned it appears as a place of great consequence. After Satgáon had been ruined by the silting up of its river, and before Calcutta had yet attracted the trade of the Gangetic valley, Kásimbázár was the great emporium of Lower Bengal. The Rev. J. Long, in his essay in the Calcutta Review, entitled 'The Banks of the Bhagirathi,' quotes from Bruton as writing in 1632 The city of Kásimbázár, where the Europeans have their factories, the country affording great quantities of silk and muslin.' The same authority states that an English commercial agent was first appointed to Kásimbázár in 1658; and that in 1667, it was required that the Chief at this place should be a Member of Council. In 1686, the factory at Kásimbázár, in common with all the other English factories in Bengal, was confiscated by order of the Nawab Shaistá Khán. Apart from this incident, Kásimbázár had before the close of the seventeenth century become the leading English commercial agency in Bengal. In 1681, when Job Charnock, the future founder of Calcutta, was Chief here, out of £230,000 sent out by the East India Company as 'investment' to Bengal, £140,000 was assigned to Kásimbázár. In 1763, it appears that out of a total of £400,000 required as 'advances for investment,' the Kásimbázár aurangs demanded £90,000, or as much as any other two agencies excepting Calcutta itself. Colonel Rennel (cir. 1779) wrote as follows:- Kásimbázár has grown rich by the ruin of Maldah and Rájmahal. It is the general market of Bengal silk, and a great quantity of silk and cotton stuffs are manufactured here, which are circulated throughout great part of Asia; of the unwrought silk, 300,000 or 400,000 lbs. weight is consumed in the European manufactories.' The filatures and machinery of the Company were estimated to be worth twenty lákhs of rupees, or £200,000. According to the native tradition, the town was so studded with buildings that the streets never saw the rays of the sun. The factory of Kásimbázár owed much of its wealth, and all its political importance, to its close neighbourhood to the Muhammadan capital of Murshidábád. But from the same cause it was liable to constant danger. It was a matter of common occurrence for the Nawab to order out his troops and blockade the walled factory, whenever he had any occasion of quarrel with the English Council at Calcutta. It followed, therefore, that the duties of the Chief of Kásimbázár were always diplomatic as much as commercial; and it was through him that negotiations were conducted not only with the Nawab of Bengal,